Personally I think it very much depends how you found yourself needing/wanting to lose weight. A lot of people get to that point because they eat too much/move too little and don't know what to do about it. Some wouldn't know healthy food if it came and slapped them in the face, some think a Greggs chicken pasty is healthy cause they've heard white meat is better than read meat. Plans that specifically show people how to cut down calories, make healthier food and cooking choices and have an element of control are all they need and they will do very well on them - without a doubt all slimming club based plans have successes, they wouldn't be able to keep going if they didn't, and they wouldn't have many people queuing to be in their magazines every month.
But, there are also the element of people out there (and I'm beginning to think we could be a majority!) who could start their own wikipedia on eating plans, having done them all, bought the cookbooks, lost the weight, but not kept it off after "coming off" and are then baffled as to what's going on. These are the people (me) who just can't stop eating - and this is where they need the help. They know what low gi is, they can catogorise green and red foods with their eyes closed, they know how many points are in a tin of baked beans. This, I believe, is where the limitations of these slimming club plans is most evident - they don't know what to do with these people. The cynical amongst us may suggest they do know what to do with them, but these people are their backbone that keeps their company going by turning up week after week after week - but that's just an opinion eh?
So, for people like me - yes, S&S is totally worth it. I spend considerably less on this than I did on my weekly food shop, I'm losing a great deal more weight than any other plan, and the time out from eating "food" is allowing me to examine the why. I sincerely hope this is my last time losing weight, this plan feels very very different and gives me the confidence to think it might just be the last time. Not having to think about points and choices and exercise is giving me the time to recognise my eating is so much more about my head than about my body - and that to me is the absolute key difference.
In 2 years with Rosemary Conley I lost a total of 2 stone (got to 3 and a half, gained, lost, gained, lost etc etc....). I've not quite done 16 weeks on S&S/LL and have lost not far short of double that. SW, WW - the same, I get to 2 stone max and then nothing, and I know now, that's about my head, not my body
